Tagged: emergency preparedness

St. Louis County will be re-testing some of its tornado sirens this week.

The county has already tested the new omni-directional, solar-powered warning system twice since Labor Day.

But a spokesman for the county’s Department of Highways and Traffic and Public Works, David Wrone, says residents living near 18 of the sirens haven’t been able to hear them.

Motorola Solutions has been awarded a $75 million contract to design a radio system for first responders in St. Louis County.

The system will allow more than 150 police departments, fire departments, paramedics and other public safety agencies to communicate directly with each other by radio. Officials say their inability to do that makes it difficult to respond to disasters effectively.

Federal officials will conduct the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) next week.

It’s scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time on Wednesday, November 9th, and will be broadcast over every radio station, TV station and cable network across the country.  Mike O’Connell with the Missouri Department of Public Safety says state officials are helping spread the word, so that residents don’t mistake the test for a real emergency.